England U18 name squad for South Africa tournament

England will continue to accelerate the development of their best young players at a four-team tournament in South Africa next month. Three Gloucester Rugby prospects are named in the squad.

The national Under 18 side takes on South Africa, France and a Namibia Invitation XV in the space of eight days in Port Elizabeth, George and East London.

England have recorded 18 successive international victories at this level - including three successive Grand Slams - since 2007, when their annual playing programme was expanded to include summer tours to the Southern Hemisphere.

All but three of the 25-man squad took part in last season's Six Nations victory. The new faces are fly half Henry Slade (Plymouth College & Exeter Chiefs), wing Anthony Watson (St George's Weybridge & London Irish) and lock Tom Jubb (Oaklands College & Saracens).

England beat South Africa 45-13 in Kimberley last summer after tour victories over Boland (36-11) and Western Province (95-0) but the coaching team of John Fletcher and Peter Walton are anticipating a much tougher return trip.

"Age grade form varies from year to year and we had a very good side last year," said Fletcher. "We're sure this year will be a tough tour. France are always good, Namibia will be big and strong and South Africa will be smarting from last year.

"The rugby is important but so is the experience of touring to play against new teams in different environments. We leave on July 12 so it's a tight schedule with a lot of travelling but that all adds to the experience. I like it when the players are under a bit of stress and pressure and it's good to see how they cope and react to it.

"We've got some new players stepping up into the group. Anthony Watson is a wing and full back who was probably the outstanding player in the England Under 16 programme last season. Henry Slade and Tom Jubb both played Under 17 matches for us and did well and all will be available at this level next season."

Five players are unavailable for the trip. Last season's fly half and captain George Ford, No.8 Matt Kvesic and wing Chris Elder will be in pre-season training with the first teams at Leicester Tigers, Worcester Warriors and London Wasps respectively, while London Irish wing Marland Yarde (shoulder) and Harlequins lock Sam Twomey (hand) are injured.

After a good start, and dominating for long periods at the Ricoh, skipper Tom Savage spoke after the Wasps defeat to GRTV about the small things that Gloucester have to work on as well as focussing on some of the positives.

Gloucester Rugby will take on Wasps on Sunday in their first ever visit in the Aviva Premiership to the Ricoh Arena. Speaking to the local media today, Director of Rugby David Humphreys previewed the game as well as giving an update on the injured Henry Trinder.

Following the 48-10 Aviva Premiership win over London Welsh on Saturday, Dan Murphy praised his team mates for battling right up to the very last minute in difficult conditions and maintaining the momentum that the team have built in 2015.

Henry Purdy scored two memorable tries against London Welsh at Kingsholm on Saturday, and attributed the first one to hard work on the training ground before describing how much he's enjoying playing his rugby alongside friends like Callum Braley.

Premiership Rugby today announces a new partnership with Singha Beer, which confirms the premium Thai lager as the new title sponsor of the Premiership Rugby 7s Series and an official partner of Premiership Rugby.